In addition to being the largest employer in South Bend, Notre Dame contributes to the area through its partnerships with local businesses. Vendor data for fiscal year 2017 identified about $781 million in total procurement. About 9 percent of that spending, or more than $73 million, occurred within South Bend; 16 percent occurred at the regional level. In total, 21.8 percent of Notre Dame’s spending on goods and services stays within the state of Indiana.
Notre Dame is also committed to developing business relationships with diversity suppliers and has been increasing inclusion efforts. In fiscal year 2017, $43 million was sourced from businesses owned by minorities, women and veterans and other small businesses.
In addition, Procurement Services is continuously creating options for faculty and staff to purchase sustainably. It has collaborated with the Office of Sustainability and vendors such as Office Depot, Grainger, Hewlett Packard and others to identify a variety of sustainable products that faculty and staff can be proud to purchase.